[Callers] Giving Weight

[Brooks Hart via Callers]

I have the dancers think of a time when they were descending some steps and someone offered them a hand to steady themselves. You don't give all of your weight to the person offering their hand.  You share the weight, giving just enough to allow some stability as you make your own way down.  
And then I ask them to think about themselves offering their hand to steady someone else who is descending the steps.  If you're too aggressive about it,  you could throw the person off balance and send them toppling down. If you don't offer enough support, you're not really helping.  
And then I apply that analogy to "helping" each other through the moves of a contra dance by the gentle support of shared weight. 
BrooksMérida, México

> Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2015 12:33:30 -0700
> To: callers at lists.sharedweight.net
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Giving Weight
> From: callers at lists.sharedweight.net
> 
> On 6/24/2015 11:29 AM, Rich Sbardella via Callers wrote:
> >
> > How do you descibe giving weight, and how do you teach it for circles,
> > allemandes, and, swings?
> > Rich
> > Stafford, CT
> 
> In my beginner sessions, I have them form a ring and then circle left 
> and right a couple of times.  Then I ask them to bend their elbows and 
> feel "that springy tension between you and the dancers next to you.  If 
> you can keep that elasticity while you're connected to other dancers, 
> then you're all supporting each other as you circle and turn, and it 
> makes everything easier."  And then we circle again, with the extra bit 
> of sproing, and then do the same with allemandes.  Just for fun, 
> sometimes I'll have them go back to the floppy arms, just to feel the 
> difference.  I also let them know that with a little bit of tension in 
> the connection, it's easier for the person they're dancing with to give 
> them physical cues.
> 
> And I know there's a better word than tension, and I'm pretty sure I've 
> used it in the past, but right now I can't think of it.
> 
> Kalia
> Sebastopol, CA
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